The natural gas drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was a topic of discussion at recent hearings on the President’s proposed energy budget for Fiscal Year 2013. (For background on this issue, see the March 2012 Congressional Digest, titled “Fracking and Drinking Water Safety.”) On February 15, at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar noted that the President has requested $45 million for a research and development initiative by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency “aimed at understanding and minimizing potential environmental, health, and safety impacts…

On January 18, President Obama announced the Administration’s decision to deny the application for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. (For background, see the December 2011 Congressional Digest titled “Keystone Pipeline.”) Republicans in Congress had forced the President’s hand on the issue last year by attaching a provision to the shot-term payroll tax cut extension legislation that required the Administration to make a decision on the pipeline within two months. In a statement released by the White House, the President said: “This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline…

Legislative business for the second session of the 112th Congress begins in the House on January 17 and in the Senate on January 23. President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on January 24. With a number of important issues still unresolved, the combativeness of 2011 may be just a warm-up for what lies ahead, as lawmakers return to an even more partisan election year environment. Congressional Digest will be reporting on these and other topics in the year ahead.

Despite the Obama Administration’s earlier assertion that it would either approve or disapprove the  Keystone XL Pipeline project by the end of this year,  the State Department, on November 10, announced a delay in the final decision. The proposed $7 billion, 1700-mile pipeline would connect the oil sands region of Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.  (See the December 2011 Congressional Digest titled “Keystone Pipeline.”) Under the original proposal, the pipeline would pass through the Sand Hills of Nebraska, which includes the Ogalla Aquifer, a major fresh water resource for eight states. Critics were concerned that oil spills…

The Senate dealt the Obama Administration’s job package another blow on November 3 by refusing to consider the Rebuild America Jobs Act, a$60 billion measure to build and repair infrastructure and create an infrastructure bank to leverage private and public capital for long-term projects. The 51-to-49 vote fell short of the 60 needed to proceed to a debate and vote. All Republican senators, as well as Democrats Ben Nelson (NE) and Joe Lieberman (CT) opposed the bill. The concept of an infrastructure bank has been around for some time. As described in the January 2009 Congressional Digest on “Infrastructure Financing,”…

Members of Congress expressed skepticism about the viability of the Obama Administration’s plan for a manned commercial space flight program at an October 26 hearing on the “Future Private Market for Human Spaceflight.” Spokespersons from NASA and aerospace companies testified before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on progress toward establishing a “purely commercial capability to fly humans to and from low-Earth orbit, with an emphasis on ferrying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.” Current law authorizes $500 for development of the program, and many Members of Congress are reluctant to meet the Administration’s request for $850 million,…

Saying “Congress hasn’t been able to do it, so I will,” President Obama announced that he is waiving central provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, the signature education policy achievement of the George W. Bush Administration. Although the original bill passed Congress with bipartisan support, the law has since become controversial, with many charging that the program is too focused on standardized testing and that it intrudes too much on local control of education. The May 2008 Congressional Digest, titled “No Child Left Behind Revisited,” covered the Pro & Con debate on the question “Should Congress Make Fundamental…

NASA has just announced plans for the most powerful rocket since Saturn V flew the first astronauts to the Moon. The agency says that the new Space Launch System (SLS) will allow humans to travel farther into space than anyone has ever ventured before, including to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars a decade later ― goals set by President Obama. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “The launch system will create good-paying American jobs, ensure continued U.S. leadership in space, and inspire millions around the world. President Obama challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that’s exactly what…

With little time to recover from the eleventh-hour budget agreement that averted a government shutdown, Congress will soon be forced backed to the bargaining table as the Nation comes closer to its statutory debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion – the current legal limit on how much money the United States can borrow.

Overshadowed by the suspense over keeping the government running beyond the April 8 continuing resolution deadline was a House vote that same day on “net neutrality.”